Business Administration, Business

Process and Supply Chain Management

Master Degree Project 30 ECTS

Skills and competencies

employers require from supply

chain graduates A job advertisements content analysis

Author: Nikolaos S. Grigoriadis

820731

Supervisor: Peter Berling

Examiner: Helena Forslund

Date: 2014-09-15

Course code: 5FE02E

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Abstract

Background: The skills and competencies of the professionals in the supply chain

sector have been highlighted since the 1960s as an area of academic interest. In modern

days there are reports and articles highlighting a “skills-gap” between employers’

requirements and business graduates. In the meanwhile youth unemployment is a

contemporary, acknowledged European problem and therefore there shouldn’t be a gap

between supply and demand of young talents. Therefore it raises questions as to why

employers report lack of young talents and at the same time youth unemployment is on

the rise.

Purpose: The present thesis will answer part of the abovementioned questions. More

specifically it will measure the part of employers’ expectations. For that reason it will

investigate in a transparent and systematic way, the requirements that employers state

they expect from business graduates within the supply chain function through published

job advertisements.

Method: Empirical data consist of 60 publically available job advertisements aiming at

supply chain graduates. The collected empirical data were analysed by the means of

quantitative content analysis and then cluster analysis.

Results and conclusion: The contemporary supply chain graduate is expected to

demonstrate an all-around personality. The most frequently requested skills were

teamwork, problem-solving ability, effective communication, English, and having a

responsible, mature and professional attitude.

Suggestions for future research: A longitudinal study in a broader linguistic context

would raise awareness on emerging skills and track changes over time.

Keywords

supply chain, graduates, skills, competencies, employers, job advertisements,

quantitative, content analysis, cluster analysis,

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Thanks

I consider the present thesis not an individual’s piece of work but rather the result of

support coming from a group of people.

It would certainly be impossible to happen without the constant support of my dear

family and Elektra Kotzampopoulou.

All the professors in the master programme of business process and supply chain

management have opened doors to knowledge, I previously ignored. Therefore I am

thankful to every single one of them. Exceptionally I must thank my tutor Peter Berling

and my examiner Helena Forslund for their patience, advice, and guidance.

Växjö, September 2014

Nikolaos S. Grigoriadis

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Contents

1 Introduction _________________________________________________________ 4

1.1 Background ______________________________________________________ 4

1.2 Problem Discussion _______________________________________________ 5

1.3 Purpose statement _________________________________________________ 7

1.4 Basic Terminology and delimitations __________________________________ 8

1.5 Research questions ________________________________________________ 8

2 Methodology _________________________________________________________ 9

2.1 Methodological Review ____________________________________________ 9

2.2 Research paradigm _______________________________________________ 10

2.3 The nature of SCM research and content analysis _______________________ 11

2.4 Cluster analysis __________________________________________________ 13

2.5 Message units and sampling ________________________________________ 14

2.6 Ethical considerations _____________________________________________ 16

2.7 Reliability and validity ____________________________________________ 17

3 Theory _____________________________________________________________ 18

3.1 Introduction ____________________________________________________ 18

3.2 Aim, Delimitations and Basic Terminology ____________________________ 19

3.3 Literature description _____________________________________________ 21

3.4 Results synthesis _________________________________________________ 22

4 Empirical Data ______________________________________________________ 27

5 Analysis ____________________________________________________________ 34

6 Conclusions ________________________________________________________ 40

References ___________________________________________________________ 43

Appendices ___________________________________________________________ I

Appendix A – The job advertisements _____________________________________ I

Appendix B – The coding manual _____________________________________ XIV

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1 Introduction

This chapter provides a background description of the research area by explaining how

supply chain management is linked to the social world, addressing a contemporary

social problem . The chapter outlines a motivation for the importance of writing the

thesis, a problem discussion, research questions, purpose and disposition of the thesis.

1.1 Background

“Educational accomplishments denoted by academic degrees or by certificates are not

accomplishments at all if in the process of acquiring learning the holders of the degrees

or certificates have not gained awareness of their responsibilities to the public as well

to their organisations they serve” (Scheleen, 1961, p. 8)

The statement above is from the very first editorial of Transportation Journal in 1961, a

statement that very didactically highlights the strong link between logistics education

and society. A bidirectional relationship, as the author later suggests, for it is also the

society’s purpose to develop transportation statesmen, a word that implies something

more than plain coordinators, and that is people who are expected to demonstrate skilful

management of public affairs and possess adequate knowledge in economics,

marketing, accounting, and finance in order to understand fully the panoramic view of

the enterprise (Scheleen, 1961).

In the same scientific direction, and in continuation to transportation management,

supply chain management (SCM) viewed as a business philosophy is part of the social

sciences. As such, it is expected in postgraduate (masters) programmes to provide

knowledge and skills demanded by industries operating within a broader social context

(Bourlakis, et al., 2013).

The supply and demand mismatches in vocational training is a chronic concern of the

contemporary society, yet the ability of the educational system to keep searching for the

right direction is what really counts over time (Moura Castro & Cabral de Andrade,

1990).

Articles regarding the significance of educational issues in SCM have been published

for over fifty years. Another article from the early 1960’s discusses the educational

needs of the traffic managers (a prevailing term at the time) and underlines the

importance of educated and multi-skilled logisticians. Furthermore the issue of

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graduates entering the transportation’s sector is being briefly analysed along with the

need for continuously up-to-date courses from the educational institutes (Henderson, Jr,

1963). Up to this date, academia is showing a continuous interest to improve our

understanding on the proper education for a supply chain manager and the competencies

that he/she should possess, through the frequent publication of articles concerning the

issue (Murphy & Poist, 2006; Thai, 2012).

Murphy & Poist have extensively studied the set of skills and competencies for supply

chain managers and logisticians from various viewpoints (1991a, 1991b, 1998, 2006,

2007) using the BLM (Business, Logistics, Management) framework developed by

Poist in 1984. A framework, consisting of approximately 70 skills, used also by other

authors (Thai, 2012; Thai, et al., 2011), with three standard axis of skills, Business,

Logistics and Management.

The skills of supply chain management professionals have also been addressed from an

educational mismatch perspective (Mangan, et al., 2001; Bourlakis, et al., 2013). A

research viewpoint that tends to emphasize more on the supply and demand mismatches

in business graduates education, between master programmes and jobs advertisements

with the use of content analysis (Bourlakis, et al., 2013) or interviews (Mangan, et al.,

2001) rather than testing through surveys the relative importance of each BLM skill in

different contexts.

From a management control point of view, the importance of knowledge and skills in

SCM is very well illustrated in the Balanced Scorecard, where the human resources

section, including the employee skill measures, forms the base of an organization’ s

performance (Kaplan & Norton, 1996). With more recent studies to indicate that even

purely supply chain scorecards could benefit from incorporating measures from human

resources about training and retention (Lohman, et al., 2004) the vital role of SCM skills

in the contemporary organization becomes more apparent.

1.2 Problem Discussion

In a broader context, a recent Eurostat report shows that youth unemployment in the old

continent is at decade high and the trend does not look promising to decline (Eurostat,

2014). The European heads of state are acknowledging the challenging situation and

are showing a concerned attitude for the confrontation of the phenomenon. In July 2013,

after a summit in Berlin to discuss the issue, the German chancellor Angela Merkel

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stated that it is “perhaps the most pressing problem facing Europe at the present time”

(Der Spiegel b, 2013), while later on that year’s November in Paris, François Hollande

said “at stake is the future of an entire generation” (Der Spiegel a, 2013). Two summits

dedicated to youth unemployment were held during 2013 by the European Union and a

third one is planned to take place in Rome on February 2014.

Figure 1 Youth unemployment and employers' expectations, source: The Economist

One of the explanatory theories supports the argument that despite more people looking

for work, employers cannot find the skills they need in several European countries with

Sweden being among them (McKinsey&Company, 2013). On 18th January 2014, an

Economist’s article referring to the McKinsey report, discusses and relates the

abovementioned phenomenon to the fast-changing jobs market and the employers’

expectations on graduates’ qualifications. One of the conclusions, in the article, is that

there is a “mismatch between what educations systems provide and what employers

need”.

Another recent article from the Economist on February 8th (Schumpeter, 2014), is

strongly criticizing business schools worldwide for not providing enough good

managers providing two reasons. The author claims that business schools have been

captured, first of all, by the academic guild and secondly by herd mentality. Academic

stars having too little incentive to focus in teaching and produce usable research, instead

they produce oceans of papers with little genuine insight published in obscure

periodicals that no manager would ever dream of reading. Those are only some of the

accusations the author brings forward, putting a huge question mark on the role of

contemporary business teaching and research society.

Nowadays business graduates, in general, are encouraged more than ever to look for

international experiences which are highly regarded by employers, and as stated in a

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relevant article: “The kids who will be successful today are those that take themselves

out of their comfort zone and develop a global mind-set” (Kadlec, 2014). Beyond

studying abroad, employment in a foreign country is thought to build a young person’s

contacts, context, and international cultural awareness (Kadlec, 2014). Accordingly

graduates from supply chain programmes would benefit and mature professionally

proving themselves outside the “comfort-zone”. Yet the question remains whether they

are equipped with the necessary skills.

Other studies support the opposite theory, that employers are not willing spent time in

training their employees and that the skills gap therefore an artificial justification of

such attitude. In any case the problem remains.

Past research studies regarding the skills and competencies of entry-level and senior

supply chain managers did result in some prevailing frameworks, yet they have been

carried out in contexts that do not contribute in analysing the present European and

global situation in relation to supply chain management graduates. More specifically, to

the best of the author’s knowledge, there has been no thorough and systematic study

investigating exclusively employers’ demands from supply chain graduates and

therefore a timely and original study would provide valuable insight.

1.3 Purpose statement

Prior to answering the main research question ambition of the present thesis is to

proceed with a systematic and robust method that will be replicable, and transparent to

scrutinize frameworks used to research skill and competency requirements for logistics

and supply chain management. It is only after that step that we can be sure we have

employed the most applicable solution for the current research project.

The aim of this thesis is to investigate what employers actually state they want in job

advertisements. The requirements employers express are a major means by which they

indicate, in a more or less effective way, what they want from potential employees. The

thesis investigates a sub-set of the supply chain job market by analysing ads for

positions suitable for early career graduates. The nature of this topic dictates a

comparative analysis of supply chain and logistics job advertisements in addition to a

literature review that will provide the theoretical background for critical reflection on

contemporary data and analysis.

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1.4 Basic Terminology and delimitations

Before continuing, basic terms need to be defined. Gammelgaard & Larson (2001)

classify educational requirements of logisticians and supply chain managers into skills

and competencies. Skills cover general, context-independent knowledge; general tools

and rules taught in most logistics classes, which are vital for the practitioner.

Competencies refer to experience-based and context-dependent knowledge. To reach a

competence level in the logistics discipline, practitioners acquire context-dependent

knowledge through organizational experience.

Referred to as recent graduates here, we define supply chain graduates those with up to

three years of work experience from university level supply chain programs, either of

Bachelor or Master level. Job advertisements will be searched published only in

English.

1.5 Research questions

Educators and potential graduates need to understand what skills and competencies

employers actually require at any point in time and this study addresses the following

questions:

RQ1: What does the current body of knowledge (literature) suggest for the skills and

competencies of supply chain graduates?

RQ2: Which skills and competencies and employers list in current ads for supply chain

graduates in globally?

RQ3: To what extend findings from current study support or contradict conclusions

from past research?

The contribution of the present study lies primarily in fact that it addresses skills and

competencies demanded in the global workplace for supply chain graduates and will

supply relevant feedback information to an audience of three: educators, students and

employers. As there will be similarities and common ground with other studies, the

exclusive focus on jobs appropriate for recent supply chain graduates will shed light on

the mix of skills and competencies which are currently in demand, allowing a more in

depth analysis.

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2 Methodology

In this chapter we will introduce the initial decisions necessary in conducting research.

Discuss the methodological tools that will be considered and showing the range of

choices for the given study. Accordingly we will discuss the proper random sampling

techniques, with issues of access to sampling frames, message archive documentation

and the management of the medium.

2.1 Methodological Review

Four main sources will be employed for the present methodological review:

1. A selected set of journal articles that employ content analysis as a research

method and job advertisements as a research dataset.

2. An acclaimed guidebook on content analysis.

3. A recent literature review book on research methods in supply chain

management.

4. A book on business research methods

Each chosen source serves a unique and specific role in this methodology chapter. In

this way we look upon similar methodological examples, study a specialized guidebook

on the selected methodology, and position the present study relative to the body of

supply chain management and business research.

Figure 2 A hierarchical view of the methodological ingredients, own-created

The first source, the set of articles, was selected through Web of Science Core

collection. More specifically we carefully chose articles that would include in their

TOPIC the terms content AND analysis AND job AND advertisements AND (logistics OR

"supply chain"). The rationale behind this was to find some examples of similar or

identical research works in a supply chain management or logistics context, to provide a

Methodological review

Web of Science™ Core Collection: 3 methodological

examples

Krippendorf, K. "Content Analysis: an introduction to

its methodology"

Wolf, J. "The Nature of Supply Chain Management

Research"

Bryman, A.& Bell, E. "Business Research Methods"

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benchmark and a point of reference in analysing job advertisements. This yielded 3

methodological examples/articles:

1. Bourlakis, M., Sodhi, M. & Son, B., 2013. The relative emphasis on supply-

chain/logistics topics by UK industry in hiring postgraduates and by UK

universities in teaching and research. International Journal of Logistics:

Research and Applications

2. Kovács, G., Tatham, P. & Larson, P. D., 2012. What skills are needed to be a

humanitarian logistician?. Journal of Business Logistics

3. Sodhi, M. S., Son, B.-G. & Tang, C. S., 2008. ASP, The Art and Science of

Practice: What Employers Demand from Applicants for MBA-Level

Supply Chain Jobs and the Coverage of Supply Chain Topics in MBA

Courses. Interfaces

The second source, (Krippendorff, 2004), provides the history and core principles of

content analysis. It examines conceptual and methodological aspects and traces several

research paths through content analysis protocols.

Wolf (2008) selects content analysis as one of her core methods to research supply

chain management literature between 1990 and 2006. Therefore not only it is an

example of an extended study that uses content analysis in a supply chain context but it

also reviews a representative body of recent supply chain research.

2.2 Research paradigm

The term paradigm refers the school of thought that each study belongs, the cluster of

beliefs that influences the study and the basic approach and attitude of how the

researcher views reality (Bryman & Bell, 2007). In his book The Structure of Scientific

Revolutions, Thomas Kuhn (1962, p.10) first uses the term to describe “some accepted

examples of actual scientific practice – examples which include law, theory application

and instrumentation together – provide models from which spring particular coherent

traditions of scientific research.

Recently Wolf (2008) seeking to recognize the major philosophical underpinnings of

SCM research, analyzed 282 journal articles from 1990 to 2006, and identified the

dominant research paradigms. The vast majority of the articles (81%) followed a

positivist and post positivist tradition, whereas critical theory approaches accounted for

18%, and two articles (1%) investigated SCM through a participatory lens. No articles

were found to belong in the constructivist tradition (Wolf, 2008). Thus she confirms

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earlier studies in logistics and SCM which suggest that the domain is steeped in the

positivist paradigm and past research is heavily normative (theoretical models and

literature reviews) and quantitative (modelling and surveys) (Kotzab, et al., 2005).

Positivism in epistemological terms (what is regarded as acceptable knowledge)

advocates the application of the methods of the natural sciences to the study of social

reality and beyond (Bryman & Bell, 2007), the investigator and the analyzed object are

perceived to be independent entities, and thus the researcher is neither influencing nor

influenced from the object (Wolf, 2008), in a detached and neutral relationship with the

setting (Kotzab, et al., 2005). Research must be conducted in a way that is value free

(objective) and biases prevented as far as possible from influencing outcomes (Bryman

& Bell, 2007; Wolf, 2008). From an ontological perspective (the nature of social

entities) positivists assume that reality is apprehend-able through its immutable laws

and mechanisms (Wolf, 2008).

The call for more explicit statements of the research approach in logistics research

(Spens & Kovacs, 2006) finds the present study intending to follow to a large extend the

philosophical stream of positivism as the basic attitude will be to test a certain theory,

approaching the issue with objectivism. As such, the research paradigms of Sodhi, et al.,

(2008), Bourlakis, et al., (2013) and Kovács, et al., (2012), who have researched the

subject in US and UK and humanitarian contexts respectively, will be analysed to

derive relevant research techniques in combination with Krippendorff’s (2004)

guidebook . What is initially common in all three studies is the use of content analysis

as a tool for collecting and analysing data through jobs advertisements requiring

SCM/logistics skills.

2.3 The nature of SCM research and content analysis

The relationship between theory and practice in business and management research is

viewed by Bryman & Bell (2007) citing the work of Gummesson (2000), to be

represented by academic researchers and management consultants as groups of

knowledge workers who place a different emphasis on theory and practice, but with

closely related roles fundamentally.

According to Bryman & Bell (2007) content analysis is an approach to the analysis of

documents and texts, that seeks to quantify content in terms of predetermined categories

and in a systematic and replicable way. Another similar definition by Weber (1990, p.9)

is: “Content analysis is a research method that uses a set of procedures to make valid

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inferences from text. These inferences are about the sender(s) of the message, the

message itself, or the audience of the message”. As a technique it relies on a predefined

coding scheme for textual data that can then be analysed with statistical techniques and

so it is perceived to be at the intersection of qualitative and quantitative traditions, fit for

balanced approaches in research (Wolf, 2008; Kotzab, et al., 2005), therefore not

delimiting the scope of the researcher’s inquiry and his/her ability to contribute to the

body of knowledge (Kotzab, et al., 2005).

Bryman & Bell (2007) discussing content analysis as business research method identify

the advantages and the disadvantages of it. Among its advantages one will identify the

increased transparency as a research method, as the coding scheme can be clearly

described and follow-up studies are therefore feasible. The relative ease by which it

allows longitudinal studies, as the researcher can track changes in frequency over time

e.g. in job advertisements. It’s also an unobtrusive method, not entailing participants,

therefore a non-reactive method. Meaning that, the documents studied are not written in

the knowledge that a content analysis may one day be carried out on them. Therefore it

overcomes the problem which individuals tend to deny socially undesirable manners

and only admit socially desirable ones.

Characterized as the fastest-growing technique in quantitative research (Neuendorf,

2001, p.1) content analysis is not widely used by operations management researchers;

yet, “in other business disciplines [it] has been firmly established as a methodological

tool” (Montabon, et al., 2007, p. 1002). However during the last decade it has been

employed as a research technique for generating, collecting and analysing data on a

range of SCM topics:

scientific developments, the nature and quality of research (Wolf, 2008; Spens &

Kovács, 2006; Pedrosa, et al., 2012)

value-based supply chain management (Brandenburg , 2013)

sustainability (Seuring, et al., 2005)

customer service (Naoui , 2013)

skills (Sodhi, et al., 2008; Bourlakis, et al., 2013; Kovács, et al., 2012).

As with other scientific paradigms, the techniques used in content analysis are expected

to be reliable, results to be replicable, and researchers in different points in times

should get the same results, when applying the same technique to the same phenomena

(Krippendorff, 2013). In general, content analysis material tends to be more illustrative

and didactic rather that dogmatic, for there is no simple right way to do it, but

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investigators must judge what methods are most appropriate (Weber, 1990). That of

course does not cancel the existence of reliability, validity, which makes particular

demands on content analysis (Krippendorff, 2013).

Content analysis employed by researchers as a mean to study the knowledge and skill

mismatch in USA (Sodhi, et al., 2008) and UK (Bourlakis, et al., 2013) indicate that

earlier research paradigms do exist in this relatively unexplored area. The two

aforementioned studies that will influence and guide the collection of empirical

evidence in our present study have both examined the “space” between academia and

practice in SCM, using similar research methods and techniques. They both made use of

jobs advertisements as a mean that will indicate and provide knowledge for

contemporary demand, and on the other hand, the content of MBA courses to explore

the supply side. Another commonality of the two aforementioned studies is that they do

not discuss questions related to reliability and validity, thus the quality of studies in

content analytical approaches to SCM research can still be increased.

2.4 Cluster analysis

In his work on content analysis, Krippendorff (2004) suggests some analytical and

representational techniques so that inferences from text can be easily understood,

patterns can be discovered and relationships that an unaided observer would overlook

can be identified. Among the suggested multivariate techniques is factor analysis,

multidimensional scaling and cluster analysis. Yet, unlike the rest, cluster analysis is

particularly popular in content analysis because it is based on intuitively meaningful

similarities among units of analysis through a wide variety of available clustering

algorithms. (Krippendorff, 2004). Therefore cluster analysis, the choice of this study, as

a follow-up analytical technique on content analysis is among the natural analytical

choices in the relevant literature.

As a term, cluster analysis is used to describe a group of statistical procedures designed

to discover classification within complex data. (Gore, 2000). The primary goal of

cluster analysis is to partition a set of objects into two or more groups based on the

similarity of the objects. The issue of sample size in cluster analysis does not relate to

any statistical inference power (i.e. statistical power). Instead the sample size must be

large enough to provide sufficient representation of small groups within the population

and represent the underlying structure. (Hair, et al., 2010, p. 519)

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Considering the relation of cluster analysis to other multivariate procedures, one could

find it closely related to discriminant analysis due to the fact that they both concerned

with the characteristics of groups of objects. Yet the most important difference between

the two techniques is that discriminant analysis is used to identify a subset of variables

that can classify a new observation to predetermined groups, whereas cluster analysis

begins with undifferentiated groups and attempts to create clusters of objects based on

the similarity among a set of variables (Gore, 2000). in addition, it can be employed as

a data exploration tool as well as for hypothesis testing and confirmation purposes, yet

the most frequent use, as in the present study, is in the development of a typology or

classification system where one does not already exist (Gore, 2000).

Gore (2000) also provides more advice when it comes to using cluster analysis, such as:

1. Use theory to guide research questions and to identify populations and variables

of interest

2. Use theory to guide the choice of a measure of association and clustering

algorithm

3. Conduct analysis using more than one method to increase confidence in

findings

4. Cross-validation is the best way of demonstrating internal validity of a cluster

solution

5. Cluster study should be considered a first step whenever the investigator is

interested in how clusters relate to other phenomenon

6. Provide a thorough description of the procedure in a written report

2.5 Message units and sampling

Prior to deciding the message units it is an imperative demand to state the fundamental

assumption of the present research project, which primarily is the statement that the

content of job ads is a valid representation of the labour demands of employers, an

assumption that has been employed previously in identical studies (Kennan , et al.,

2009). Job ads analysis is widely used and publicly available job listings is claimed to

be a fairly representative list of what is available regarding the knowledge, skills and

competencies in demand (Kennan , et al., 2009; Molinero & Xie, 2007).

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In order to achieve our research objectives, we will follow the research paradigm of

Molinero & Xie, (2007) which is based on content analysis of textual data from job

advertisements and using multivariate data analysis. In our case the sources will be:

1. Supply Chain-logistics graduate programme job ads from all over the globe

Job ads for the demand-side analysis will be collected online from the websites

www.graduateland.com and www.linkedin.com. We will initially screen all jobs

available at the time of data collection (2nd

and 3rd

quarter of 2014) that will be under

the categories of supply chain and logistics management and remove ads for non-degree

holders.

For each ad we will introduce categorical variables for Requirements for professional

qualification. While Bourlakis, et al. (2013) choose to focus only in the UK, we will

choose to look for supply chain and logistics job ads from all over the world following

the rationale of globalisation that encourages business graduates to look for

international experiences.

The data will be analyzed in terms of occurrence of relevant words and phrases, a

technique which has been used in many skill requirements studies (Sodhi, et al., 2008;

Bourlakis, et al., 2013). The words and phrases in text will be deduced to certain

categories according to the “dictionary”. A “dictionary” is a constructed set of content

categories on the basis of a single concept (Weber, 1990), which in our case is SCM

skills. This strategy provides us with numerous categories into which most words in the

texts can be classified, and is a necessary, preparatory step (Weber, 1990). Such a

“dictionary” has been created in previous similar studies e.g. Sodhi, et al., (2008), used

also by Bourlakis, et al., (2013).. Their “dictionary” lists 13.080 words and phrases up

to six words long, placed in categories and sub-categories. For example the phrase

“demand management” belongs in the sub-category Forecasting which belongs in the

category Inventory and forecasting. Then the frequency of appearance of a set of skill

(and related keywords and phrases) will indicate the relative demand for these skills

(Bourlakis, et al., 2013). Yet, in an email discussion with the above authors, the advice

was to create a new ad-hoc dictionary that would fit the purpose of the study, and so it

was done.

In content analysis a unit is an identifiable message or message component which:

a) Serves as the basis for identifying the population and drawing a sample

b) On which variables are measured

c) Serves as the basis for reporting analyses.

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Units can be words, characters, themes, time periods, interactions, or any other result of

“breaking up a communication into bits” (Neuendorf, 2001, p.71). In the present study

each job ad will be the research unit. Sampling as a process of selecting a subset of units

for study from a larger population will have to be defined for the job ads source. As

such the websites www.gratuateland.com and www.linkedin.com will be used to search

for SCM graduate programmes and graduate positions globally.

2.6 Ethical considerations

As part of a business research project it is required to take under consideration a set of

ethical principles suggested by relevant literature. According to Bryman & Bell (2007)

such principles are revolved around four main areas:

Harm to participants

Lack of informed consent

Invasion of privacy

Deception

Harm to participants refers to actual or potential physical harm; participants’

development or self-esteem; stress; harm to career prospects or future employment and

is regarded as unacceptable. Suggested ways to prevent are maintaining confidentiality

of records and anonymity of accounts.

Lack of informed consent refers to whether observed participants actually want to

participate in a research project, and be informed about the research process.

Due to the nature of the present study, analyzing public web content, there was low

potential breach of the above mentioned ethical principles. The anonymity of the

companies participating in the job ad population was considered, and therefore the

companies whose job advertisements were analysed, are not mentioned. Lack of

informed consent in job advertisement analysis is indeed an issue and participating

companies can be informed that their public content will be analyzed. The current study

does not take under consideration the abovementioned principle, due to the small-scale

nature of the project.

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2.7 Reliability and validity

Cronbach's alpha, is widely used for an entirely different purpose and is unsuitable for

evaluating reliability in content analysis (Krippendorff, 2004, p. 222). Therefore this

study will employ Krippendorff’s alpha, a coefficient designed to assess reliability in

content analysis.

In its most general form, Krippendorff’s alpha is defined by:

Where is a measure of the observed disagreement and is a measure of the

disagreement that can be expected when chance prevails. α = 1 indicates perfect

reliability, α = 0, indicates the absence of reliability and negative values with maximum

being α = -1 shows systematic disagreement (Krippendorff, 2004). Krippendorf’ s

(2004) suggestions are to:

rely only on variables with reliabilities above

consider variables with reliabilities between and only for

drawing tentative conclusions

The present study has the conceivably simplest reliability data which are generated by

two observers who assign one of two available values (0/1) to each of a common set of

units of analysis. We will use a macro in SPSS (Hayes & Krippendorff, 2007).

Validity provides convincing reasons for taking the results of scientific research

seriously (Krippendorff, 2004). In content analysis, validity implies that inferences

drawn from text fulfil speak as truthfully as possible to as many as possible, and

distinguishes validity in three categories:

face validity: being obviously true, sensible, plausible

social validity: addressing important social issues, contributing to public debates

empirical validity, the degree to which available evidence and established theory

supports intermediate stages of research process and its results

Face validity is “obvious” and “common truth”. Does it make sense? Does it make

sense, indeed to measure an issue by the relative frequency with which the issue is

mentioned in certain type of media (Krippendorff, 2004)? In the present study face

validity is reflected on the question: does it make sense to measure the skills that are

being mentioned in job advertisements as a reflection of the employers’ requirements?

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The answer to that lies primarily and exclusively on the fact that there is a plethora of

available past and identical studies that measure the frequency that certain words appear

in job advertisements as reflection of the required job skills.

Social validity is that quality of research findings that leads up to accept them on

account of their contribution to the public discussion of social concerns (Krippendorff,

2004). In our current study is reflected on its contribution to the public debate of

whether supply chain graduates should be more focused on being managers or

logisticians.

Empirical validity is the degree to which available evidence and established theory

support various stages of research process, the degree to which specific inferences

withstand the challenges of additional data, of the findings of other research efforts, of

evidence

3 Theory The theoretical chapter presents theories relevant to the research questions, used to

analyze the empirical data. The chapter begins by describing how academic articles

around skills and competencies in supply chain management were selected and

continues with a review of the selected theory

3.1 Introduction

Rigorous research can only be conducted in relation to existing knowledge so that we

don’t “reinvent the wheel”; therefore a literature review is an essential part of the

research process to ensure that. The activity of reviewing the relevant literature satisfies

two specific functions. As a starting point, it helps to generate new ideas and also

summarizes existing research through the identification of patterns and themes.

Secondly, it justifies the notion of contribution to research, since it is enfolded against

existing theories. (Seuring, et al., 2005, p.92)

“A research literature review is a systematic, explicit and reproducible design for

identifying, evaluating, and interpreting the existing body of recorded documents”

(Fink, 2010, p.3). It is focusing on high-quality original research to ensure that the

results of the review will be under the researcher’s supervision and accurate (Fink,

2010). Contrasting to subjective examinations of recorded information, such a review,

after examining the sources, describes and justifies what is done, so that someone else

can reproduce it and determine objectively whether to accept the results of it. Subjective

19

reviews tend to choose sources without justifying why they are selected, giving equal

credit to good or poor studies. Results are often based on partial examination of the

available literature and findings may be inaccurate or even false. (Fink, 2010, p.16)

3.2 Aim, Delimitations and Basic Terminology

The aim of this literature review is to outline the existing knowledge on what are the

appropriate skills and competencies of a supply chain and logistics practitioner. We

researched in Web of Science™ Core Collection only for journal articles, excluding

proceedings papers, which include in their title the words:

1. “supply” AND “chain” AND “skills”

2. “supply” AND “chain” AND “competencies”

3. “logistics” AND “skills”

4. “logistics” AND “competencies”

resulting in 18 unique articles in Grade Four, Three and Two journals, according to the

ABS Journal guide 2010. The results were further refined by excluding articles that

their abstract did not indicate relevancy with the research, limited down to 9.

No. Journal Article title Year

1 International Journal of Operations & Production Management

Supply chain professionals A study of competencies, use of technologies, and future challenges

2013

2 Supply Chain Management - an International Journal

Priorities and determinants for supply chain management skills development in manufacturing firms

2013

3 Supply Chain Management - an International Journal

Developing competencies of supply chain professionals in Australia: collaboration between businesses, universities and industry associations

2013

4 International Journal of Production Economics

The effect of individual, network, and collaborative competencies on the supply chain management system

2012

5 International Journal of Logistics-Research and Applications

Competency requirements for professionals in logistics and supply chain management

2012

6 Supply Chain Management - an International Journal

Mastery of operational competencies in the context of supply chain management

2009

7 Supply Chain Management-an International Journal

Skill requirements for logistics license in Taiwan 2006

8 Industrial Marketing Management

Purchasing/supply chain management flexibility: Moving to an entrepreneurial skill set

2005

9 Journal of World Business Effect of export financing resources and supply-chain skills on export competitive advantages: Implications for superior export performance

2001

As a next step and to ensure that the research is not failing to cite influential papers, the

set of eleven articles was analysed to identify certain citation patterns with

CitNetExplorer. More specifically we were interested in the cited references of each of

the nine articles, to identify secondary sources that would be mentioned more than twice

20

(≥3). The rationale is that in a small set of articles, a work that is cited in more than two

indicates an influential paper.

The total cited publications in the initial 9-article set were 420, yet 23 of them were

mentioned in at least two of the initial 9-article set, showed more analytically in the

table below:

No. of journal articles Cited times Level of potential influence

2 4 High

4 3 Medium

17 2 Low

As stated above primary focus will be in the first two categories work of High and

Medium potential influence.

No. Journal Article/book title Year Cited

1 Journal of Business Logistics

Logistics skills and competencies for supply chain management

2001 4

2 Supply Chain Management - an International Journal

Skill requirements of senior-level logisticians: a longitudinal assessment

2007 4

3 Non applicable Psychometric Theory - book 1978 3 4 Non applicable Multivariate Data Analysis - book 1998 3 5 Journal of Physical

Distribution & Logistics Management

Skill requirements of senior-level logisticians: practitioner perspectives

1998 3

6 International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management

Skill requirements: perception of the senior Asian logisticians 2001 3

Indeed several highly relevant works were revealed to have been missed from the initial

search. Works no. 1, 2, 5, and 6 will be used in the following literature review whereas

the rest were excluded as not relevant to the present study. Works no. 3 and 4 simply

indicate the influence of psychometric theory and the use of multivariate analysis in the

research field. Works cited four times, with high level of potential influence where

100% relevant to the present study whereas 50% of the studies with medium level of

potential influence, were found to be useful.

The following discussion is limited to 13 peer-reviewed journal articles, published in

English from 1998 to 2013. The primary use of such a review is to describe how much

is known about the body of research and to support the need for and significance of new

research.

21

Figure 3, Citation map of the 13 identified articles, own-created

Figure 4 Flow chart of the literature search process, own created

3.3 Literature description

The distribution of the publication in the researched period (1998-2013) is displayed in

Figure 4. Even though the number of studied papers is rather small (N=13) the

distribution illustrates a low and sporadic interest on the subject. Gammelgaard &

Larson (2001) used surveys and case studies as complementary methods and so the

paper was measured as half-case study and half-survey.

Web of Science™ Core Collection common and influential studies

18 articles screened 6 studies screened

9 excluded: non relevant 2 excluded: non relevant

13 articles included in literature review

22

Figure 5 Allocation of the articles across the analyzed period, own created

Figure 6 Research methodologies applied in the papers, own created

3.4 Results synthesis

This compact body of knowledge, will allow us to have a brief introduction to recent

theories around the skills and competencies of supply chain professionals and

logisticians. The skills and competencies that a supply chain graduate or professional

should possess is an ongoing discussion that has been multiply addressed from various

researchers in the past (Murphy & Poist, 2007).

0

1

2

3

4

Nu

mb

er

of

pap

ers

(N

=13

)

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

case study model survey concept mapping

Nu

mb

er

of

pap

ers

(N

=13

)

23

Razzaque and Sirat (2001) investigating the perception of senior Asian logisticians, find

that what is more important to that geographical context and hierarchical level, is to be a

multi-skilled generalist rather than a technically-oriented specialist. They (Razzaque &

Sirat, 2001) make the use of the influential BLM (business logistics management)

research framework developed by Poist in 1984, which classifies the skills a logistician

professional should possess into three categories. Business knowledge and skills are

defined as related to business directly (e.g. marketing, accounting) and indirectly

(psychology, public relations) (Razzaque & Sirat, 2001). Logistics knowledge and skills

refers to functional knowledge such as transportation, warehousing, or forecasting

whereas management knowledge and skills describe personal attributes such as

supervision, time management, enthusiasm, self-confidence and even personal

grooming habits (Razzaque & Sirat, 2001).

A factor analysis helped the authors to reduce the skills and competencies to fewer

structures. As such, the factor with the highest mean value was managerial ability and

includes the abilities to adapt to change, organize, listen, manage time, supervise and

do managerial control (Razzaque & Sirat, 2001). Secondly strategic ability consists of

the ability to plan, delegate responsibility, view firm as a system and self-confidence.

While the two highest ranked factors belong to the managerial category, the third one,

storage/warehousing, is of a logistics nature and includes inventory control,

warehousing, materials handling, and packaging. The fourth most important factor for

senior Asian logisticians was personal qualities, which according to their factor

analysis includes the sub-skills of: personal integrity, self motivation, enthusiasm,

personal grooming habits, and personal dress habits. The fifth factor in their study is

from the business category, called operations skill consisting of the skills: transport

and logistics, procurement, production, and marketing (Razzaque & Sirat, 2001).

On the same year, Gammelgaard & Larson (2001) develop their own extensive research

framework with 45 skills and by arguing that logisticians are called to develop new

skills, they proceed to their skills and competencies research. Investigating mid-level

managers they employ a factor analysis to collapse the 45 skill areas into a smaller set.

The three factors constructed are:

1. Interpersonal/managerial basic skills

2. Quantitative/technological skills

3. SCM core skills

24

Interpersonal/managerial basic skills include: ambition, critical thinking, decision-

making, ethical awareness, listening, motivation, organizing, presentation skills,

prioritizing, problem solving, self-directed learning, self-discipline, speaking, oral

communication, time management, training, writing/written communication.

Quantitative/technological skills include: database ability, IT systems development,

computer programming, quantitative methods, software knowledge, spreadsheet

abilities, statistical analysis, knowledge of latest technology, knowledge of newest

techniques.

SCM core skills include: ability to see the ”BIG picture”, change management,

confidence, conflict management, cross-cultural awareness, foreign language,

knowledge of the industry, leadership, negotiation, organizational culture awareness,

project management, selling, supply chain awareness, and teamwork.

Interestingly, six skills failed to load on oany of the above three factors: ability to

perform under pressure, creativity, facilitation (of meetings), flexibility, multi-cultural

awareness, and scheduling (Gammelgaard & Larson, 2001). Further on the authors

identify the top five ranked skills: teamwork, problem solving, supply chain awareness,

ability to see the “BIG picture”, and listening, which belong either to

Intepersonal/managerial or SCM core skills. Once again prioritizing the managerial

aspect of supply chain’s role against the technical/specialty one.

Murphy & Poist (2007), in a longitudinal study of senior-level logisticians with their

BLM framework, find that Management skills are still more important than the

Logistics and thirdly Business skills, which reinforce and update their findings from a

1991 (Murphy & Poist) study. They argue as well that their findings suggest that 2007

logisticians have a more supply chain orientation than in 1991. The five highest ranked

management skills are motivate others, personal integrity, decision making ability,

ability to persuade, oral communication (Murphy & Poist, 2007).

In an Australian context, investigating mainly mid-level managers Prajogo & Sohal

(2013) identify communication and teamwork as the most important competencies for

successful supply chain integration. They describe communication and teamwork as the

ability to work effectively with individuals and groups/teams – cross-culturally, intra

and inter organisationally, to manage relationships in diverse contexts and

communicate effectively through different media and styles (Prajogo & Sohal, 2013, p.

25

1541). Other skills that were included in their framework were: technology skills,

initiative and enterprise skills, and compliance and legal knowledge. Yet, Prajogo &

Sohal (2013) conclude that a supply chain professional should possess a diverse set of

competencies and skills, of both technical and inter-personal nature, important for the

successful integration of different business processes along the supply chain.

Lorentz, et al., (2013) design their research around manufacturing firms and their

respective SCM skill development priorities. What they find is that skills that enable the

connection of customers and suppliers to the company’s processes are relatively a more

important development priority. As such their top five consists of:

1. Demand forecasting and supply planning

2. Sourcing and supplier management

3. Customer and distribution channel management

4. Production planning and control

5. Information systems for logistics and production planning

Thai (2012), investigating supply chain professionals define them as well trained,

skilled that mainly performs managerial or administrative work, whose main capital is

knowledge. He/She is developing a career and does not have an occasional relationship

with the domain, but may be of entry level or experienced. His study confirms previous

studies in a Singaporean context that logistics managers are managers first and

logisticians later.

26

The overview table below presents the top skills in each of the study in the selected

literature, own-created

Article titles / author Five highest ranked skills and competencies

Skill requirements: perception of the senior Asian logisticians,

Razzaque & Sirat (2001)

1. Managerial ability

2. Strategic ability

3. Storage and warehousing

4. Personal qualities

5. Operational skills

Logistics skills and competencies for supply chain

management, Gammelgaard & Larson (2001)

1. Teamwork

2. Problem solving

3. Supply chain awareness

4. Ability to see the “BIG picture”

5. Listening

Skill requirements of senior-level logisticians: practinioner

perspectives, Murphy & Poist (1998)

1. Personal integrity

2. Ability to motivate

3. Ability to organise

4. Ability to plan

5. Customer Service

Skill requirements of senior-level logisticians: a longitudinal

assessment, Murphy & Poist (2007)

1. Motivate others

2. Personal integrity

3. Decision making ability

4. Ability to persuade

5. Oral communication

Supply Chain professionals: a study of competencies, use of

technologies, and future challenges, Prajogo & Sohal (2012)

And

Developing competencies of supply chain professionals in

Australia: collaboration between businesses, universities and

industry associations, Sohal (2013)

1. Ability to work effectively with individuals and

groups/teams – cross-culturally, intra and inter

organisationally

2. Ability to manage relationships in diverse contexts –

cross-culturally, intra and inter organisationally

3. Ability to manage risks in supply chain and their

associated issues

4. Ability to make use of numerical techniques for decision

making (e.g. forecasting and scheduling)

5. Project Management skills and ability to lead major

projects

Priorities and determinants for supply chain management skills

development in manufacturing firms, Lorentz, et al. (2013)

1. Demand forecasting and supply planning

2. Sourcing and supplier management

3. Customer and distribution channel management

4. Production planning and control

5. Information systems for logistics and production planning

Competency requirements for professionals in logistics and

supply chain management, Thai (2012)

1. Personal Integrity

2. Managing client relationships

3. Problem-solving ability

4. Cost control

5. Ability to plan

Purchasing/supply chain management flexibility: moving to an

entrepreneurial skill set, Giunipero, et al., (2005)

1. Planning

2. Influence and persuasion

3. Internal motivation

4. Creativity

5. Risk management

27

4 Empirical Data

In this chapter the results from the collected job advertisements are presented. A

descriptive section shows how the data was collected and transformed from text to

quantitative binary data

The data set consists of all the relevant job advertisements published in

www.graduateland.com between 12th

February 2014 and 12th

April 2014, and

additional ads from www.linkedin.com during June, July and August 2014. Even

though previous studies (Sodhi, et al., 2008) have used www.monster.com a pilot

search revealed mainly re-published ads from human resource agencies, which include

limited information, and therefore was not used further on. The strategy for approaching

the data collection was to collect ads that are the product of a clear human resource

strategic plan on behalf of the employers. Job ads that revealed the criteria for inclusion

in graduateland and linkedin in the data set were:

1. Job type: Graduate programmes

2. Job position: Supply Chain & logistics

In the first wave of job advertisement collecting, information was collected from 40

advertisements in www.graduateland.com , but some appeared more than once and

therefore duplications were excluded from the data set. This reduced the total number to

23. An additional search for supply chain graduate programmes and positions was

employed to increase the small population through www.linkedin.com, which resulted

in 40 additional ads. Therefore the final total population of ads was increased to 63 and

resulted in a satisfying population for further analysis which were all checked

binomially (0/1) on 36 skills and competencies identified from relevant literature.

A job advertisement consists of a variety of information, and one may argue that

information on the skills and competencies required may be sporadically placed in a job

advertisement. But we had to choose a way in which analysis can be conducted in a

systematic way, as much as possible. Therefore the information to be coded was

selected only from the section with the following titles: Who we are looking for,

Requirements, prerequisites, Knowledge and experience required, Qualifications, What

we need, Skills and Experience, What does it take?, We expect you to have, What do I

need to qualify for this job?, Your profile, Your background and skills, Competence

needed.

28

Every job advertisement, beyond the scattered secondary information on skills and

competencies required, did include a distinct section which identified clearly the

candidate’s qualifications. This section varied in its title, as seen above; nevertheless it

provided the exclusive source of information per advertisement.

Figure 7, snapshot from MAXQDA®, showing the document browser, the code system and the document system,

own-created

Advice from previous researchers was taken under consideration. In short, previous

researchers did provide the dictionary by which words and phrases from supply chain

job advertisements were linked into skills but in an email conversation Dr. Son, Byung-

Gak, Senior Lecturer in Supply Chain Management at Cass Business School, advised

“If you want to go ahead with sw (software) content analysis, you might need to build

your own dictionary based on the ads you have. Otherwise you’d miss out some.”

Therefore the provided dictionary served the consulting role of an expert.

The first step was to quantify the skills found in the job advertisements. Each

advertisement’s qualifications’ section was imported in MAXQDA® (Figure 7), a

software programme for systematizing, organizing, and analyzing qualitative data. It is

used by universities all over the world (MAXQDAa, 2014), and has been employed in

numerous academic publications (MAXQDAb, 2014). Data entry in MAXQDA®

allowed an easier extraction of raw quantitative data for further analysis in SPSS®.

The reliability of coding was a further area of concern, thus inter-coder reliability was

tested on one advertisement. Another post graduate student was employed as a second

coder. He randomly picked an advertisement and independently re-coded it based on the

“Coding-manual” document (Appendix B) that was provided after a short-training

29

session. Accordingly data was entered in SPSS and Krippendorff’s alpha was

calculated. A Krippendorff’s alpha= 0.8731 indicated a satisfying inter-coder validity.

Figure 8, Output for Krippendorff's alpha (Hayes & Krippendorff, 2007) from SPSS, own created

The difficulty of coding skills and competencies varied. Skills such as teamwork,

problem solving ability, flexibility, high average grade, two or more languages, and

leadership were rather easy to identify, yet others such as “Responsible, mature and

professional” needed more time to be identified. As in previous studies (Molinero &

Xie, 2007) data was coded in zero/one variables providing

binary/binomial/dichotomous data. The table below provides an equivalent to the

“dictionary” used in similar content analysis studies. Any phrase from the

“phrases/words” column indicated the requirement for a skill in the “Skills” column;

phrases found more than one was marked only once.

Table 1 Dictionary used for the conversion of words to skills, indicative sample for the top 10 skills, own-created

Skills Phrases/ Words

Teamwork team player

ability to work in a team

ability to build and maintain strong relationships in a cross-

functional environment

work well as part of a team

thrive on delivering excellent performance to your team

work in teams

team working spirit

ability to work well with others as a team

30

Problem solving

ability

pragmatic

analytical skills

problem-solving

affinity with numbers

strong analytical approach

Flexible flexible

flexible and mobile

high learning agility

flexibility

ability to adapt to change

High average

grade

with a grade average of 70%

good scholastic record

GPA 80% or better

excellent track record and good academic background

above average university degree

bachelor with great results

graduated with a minimum 2:2 degree

minimum 2:1 degree

strong academic track record

minimum achieved grade of 2:2

Two or more

languages

good command in both English & Mandarin

fluency in English (additional/local languages a plus)

English language is a must, German or French would be an

advantage

Bi-lingual in Dutch (native speaker) and English. French is

also an advantage

fluency in English (spoken and written) and good German

knowledge

command of one of the Nordic languages and English

excellent command of English, additional languages

advantageous

English and at least one Nordic language

English spoken & written for contact with suppliers + french

31

Understanding

logistics

terminology

major in Logistics or related is preferred

a bachelors or advanced qualification in supply chain, or a

supply related field

bachelor’s degree in Logistics, Supply Chain

business degree in Logistics, Supply Chain or similar

bachelor within economic, maritime, logistic or commercial

areas

Procurement, Supply Chain or Business related degree

experience about supply chain

master's degree in supply chain management

degree qualified in a relevant discipline, e.g. Logistics,

Supply Chain Management, Procurement, Operations and

Supply Chain Management

Responsible,

mature and

professional

Strong sense of responsibility

Mature, professional personality

attention to detail with discipline to follow through on

assigned tasks

willingness and capability to take handle difficult situations,

with a strong sense of responsibility

structured and methodical approach to work and follow

things through

independent and responsible

readiness to take on responsibilities and work independently

detail oriented

high degree of ownership

Leadership leadership

leaders in their profession

potentially want to become the future leader of our business

Enthusiasm ambitious individual with a passion and drive to excel

high degree of initiative, energy

willing to learn and continue to challenge oneself

high level of energy

have the drive to learn and succeed

32

eager to learn and roll up your sleeves

challenge your talent in order to become one of our future

high potentials

General

business

administration

Post graduate qualification in business

Degree should be Business, Marketing, Management,

Commerce

Master’s Degree within Economics or a relevant field of

study is preferred

Business related degree

In a business subject

Ability to plan

and organise

strong capabilities to prioritise, optimise and perform under

limited resources and tight deadlines

project management skills

Ability to think and plan in a proactive manner

Organized and reactive

proactive

List of skills and competencies

1. Ability to plan and organise

2. Adapting to organisational change

3. Ambitious

4. Analysing statistical data

5. Creativity - Outside the box thinker

6. Customer service

7. Effective verbal communication

8. Effective written communication

9. English

10. Enthusiasm

11. Expertise in interpersonal relations

12. Flexible

13. General business administration

14. High average grade

15. Identifying opportunities and threats

33

16. Impact of globalisation

17. Information system management

18. Knowledge of operations

19. Leadership

20. Local citizenship

21. Long-term commitment

22. Perform under pressure

23. Personal integrity

24. Problem-solving ability

25. Product demand forecasting

26. Production planning

27. Public Relations

28. Purchasing

29. Responsible, mature and professional

30. Self-motivation

31. Strategic management

32. Teamwork

33. Two or more languages

34. Understanding logistics terminology

35. Use of logistics specialised softwares

36. Work experience (max 3 years)

34

5 Analysis

This chapter provides the analysis of the empirical data. After being quantified, a

descriptive part of the data is presented. A paretto chart, a dendrogram and a bar-chart

are the main visualization tools used.

The data collected were kept in the form of a table of variables by job advertisements

and cases by skills and competencies and it will be analysed by means of multivariate

analysis tools, in particular hierarchical cluster analysis. The objective of the analysis is

to see the way in which skills and competencies are related and explore if they tend to

appear in combinations. A “tree diagram” or dendrogram indicates the sequence in

which points are merged. Each time a merger takes place a branch is created indicating

how far apart the points merged were. When the branches are short, the points have

much in common. When the branches are long, the points have little in common. What

is meant by “large” is a matter of judgement (Molinero & Xie, 2007). The dendrogram

can be seen in Figure 7. We used Ward’s agglomeration approach which attempts to

maximize similarity between clusters while maximizing dissimilarity between clusters,

and tends to produce reasonable results (Molinero & Xie, 2007).

Figure 9 Choropleth map of the job ads collected, viewed by countries, own created

Additional information regarding the initial location of each job was also collected.

Using SPSS®, a choropleth map visualizes the countries and the count of the collected

ads. Most jobs for supply chain graduates are located in Europe and secondarily China

35

and United States.

Figure 10 Bar-count of the job ads collected, viewed by country, own created

Job ads in countries that are not visible due to their geographical size is Denmark (9

ads), Singapore (3 ads) and Taiwan (1 ad). It does provide an overall view of the regions

that provide opportunities for international supply chain graduates, in an English-based

context. The search for job ads was conducted using English key words; therefore an

improved research project could possibly be conducted in several languages.

Figure 11 Bar-chart with all the skills and competencies observed and cumulative ratio, own created

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

36

The skills that have been observed in the level of 80% of the total observations from left

to right stop at the skill Self-motivation, including it. Interestingly two requirements that

are identified in this thesis are flexibility and being a responsible, mature and

professional person. Employer’s ads, besides previously known skills, require from

graduates to be flexible, both in terms of mobility and as a general personal

characteristic and professional, in terms of acting independently, being confident, . In

terms of educational background, both engineering degrees and business/management

degrees were requested, which again indicates the dyadic nature of the supply chain

domain.

Figure 12 Dendrogram from SPSS cluster analysis showing two distinct clusters, own created

37

The dendrogram reveals two main clusters, yet the two of them are closely related. The

first cluster (green) consists of the skills: 7, 8, 11, 29, 1, 24, 9, 36, 12, 16, 13, 33, 10,

30, 14, 19, 34 and 32. The second cluster (yellow) includes skills: 25, 26, 18, 21, 2, 28,

20, 15, 31, 3, 27, 23, 5, 6, 35, 22, 4, 17. Now “cluster analysis, along with factor

analysis, is much an art as a science” (Hair, et al., 2010, p.518) and in order to make a

meaningful interpretation of the clusters we also looked at the descriptive statistics. We

observed ( Figure 14) that the “green” cluster colour includes skills and competencies

towards the high frequency skills, whereas the “yellow” cluster tends to include skills

and competencies with medium and low ranged frequency skills.

The clusters are as follows: Table 2 Skill clusters, own created

green cluster Teamwork, Understanding_logistics_terminology,

Problemsolving_ability, Two_or_more_languages,

Ability_to_plan_and_organise, Flexible,

Responsible_mature_professional, Leadership, English,

Impact_of_globalisation, Expertise_in_interpersonal_relations

High_average_grade, Self-motivation,

Work_experience_(max_3_years), Effective_verbal_communication,

Effective_written_communication,

yellow cluster Perform_under_pressure, Identifying_opportunities_and_threats,

Local_citizenship, Strategic_management,

Use_of_logistics_specialised_softwares,

adapting_to_organisational_change, Analysing_statistical_data,

Customer_service, Knowledge_of_operations, Long-

term_commitment, Personal_integrity, Product_demand_forecasting,

Production_planning, Purchasing, Information_sustem_management,

38

Figure 13 the core and layer classification of employers’ expectations, own created

On those grounds, it may be argued that a meaningful interpretation of the green cluster

is to be seen as a representation of the core, very important skills and competencies

employers require from supply chain graduates (Figure13). A candidate that

demonstrates teamwork abilities, understands logistics terminology, has analytical and

problem solving abilities, speaks two or more languages, can plan, organize and

prioritize his tasks, is flexible and mobile, and shows independence and professionalism

is the golden candidate.

Furthermore he/she will show high potential performance, as reflected in his/her high

average academic grade, leadership skills, has international experience or has worked

with other cultures, is a self-motivated and quick learner, is an expert in interpersonal

relations, negotiator, as described in an ad “he can influence without formal authority”,

and has some relevant work experience.

Specialized logistics and supply chain competencies were found to be sporadically

requested, such as knowledge of ERP systems, production planning, or product demand

forecasting.

core: very important skills and competencies

2nd layer: less important skills and competencies

39

Figure 14 Skill frequency coloured in clusters and cumulative ratio, own-created

The additional cluster analysis, in an attempt to classify job ads, did reveal two clear

clusters yet it made limited meaningful classifications associated to what the employers

need from supply chain graduates. As past studies have revealed clustered skills for

operations research candidates (Molinero & Xie, 2007), such results were not revealed

in the present study. In the way that Gammelgaard & Larson (2001) refer to skills and

competencies, results indicate that employers’ requirements are more based on

graduates’ skills and less on competencies. In similar studies conclusions have been

reached through surveys yet looking through the above 63 job advertisements,

teamwork has also been identified as the top skill in Gammelgaard & Larson (2001)

followed by problem solving ability, which is also the main outcome of the present

study.

To sum up, a clear direction of the job requirements towards managerial and personal

attributes for supply chain graduates rather than logistics is also apparent, supporting the

“statesman” view of transportation managers from the 1960’s. Yet the present study

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

supports profiles the contemporary supply chain graduate and supports findings from

past research in two ways:

Possessing managerial skills are a good starting point for a career in supply chain

management

“All-round player” is a term that briefly describes the employers’ expectations from

supply chain graduates

Figure 15 The present study, through the study of job ads, supports results and updates knowledge from past studies

in the field of SCM skills

6 Conclusions

This chapter provides the main results and conclusions. Lastly, practical contributions,

limitations and future research suggestions are presented.

The present study looked into job advertisements for supply chain graduates as a source

of information on required skills that employers demand. It made use of two specific

scientific tools, taught in the present MSc programme, to analyse the collected data:

content analysis and cluster analysis. Both of which were part of quantitative research

methods. In general, the study confirms and updates findings from past researches but

approached from a different methodological angle as way to triangulate past results.

Thus the findings from Murphy & Poist (2006), that entry-level logistics personnel,

such as graduates are expected to be “well-rounded” with a strong emphasis on

personal characteristics are viewed to be confirmed. What is quite apparent is the cross-

functional, networking and problem-solving attitude of the modern supply chain

supply chain skills &

competencies

Job ads

interviews surveys

41

graduate. He/she has to be ready to “roll up his sleeves” within a team, and is not an

isolated, shiny, cutting diamond or a bright lone star. Even though he is expected to

demonstrate leadership potential he will have to act in a constellation of players. The

employing cliché “hire for attitude and train for skills” also appears to be valid. What

are requested in most job advertisements for graduates are not specific technical skills

and competencies but behavioural, attitude and indicators of potential performance

(high average grade).

The findings of this thesis have potential implications for various stakeholders including

student/graduates, employers and educators. For students and graduates, the results

provide a view of how employers will look on them, what attributes they will be

expected to demonstrate other than a good academic record and an educational

background in supply chain or logistics management. Expectations on team work,

problem solving abilities and flexibility are aspects that are perceived as very important

in the job market; along with being someone others can rely on, being mature and

professional with leadership potentials, as viewed in the core cluster.

For employers it provides a benchmark comparison of what the broader job market

requires from supply chain graduates. Employers that expect their new supply chain

employees to possess significant technical competencies should reconsider their human

resource strategy, as the overall picture of the market shows that the prevailing approach

is to “hire for attitude and train for skills.”

For supply chain professional educators it may serve as a contemporary indicator, a

“compass” on planning, designing or re-directing curricula. E.g. programmes with too

much focus on individual assignments may have to re-design some aspects of their

programme since team-work is so highly required from employers.

Finally, the findings of this study are subject to a number of limitations. A main

limitation of this study is the relatively small sample size. Another limitation is the

exclusive use of job advertisements written in English. The study is also limited to jobs

suitable for recent supply chain graduates justified on the grounds that supply chain

management is a large field and focusing the investigation on a part of it is likely to

produce more useful results than a study attempting to analyse all levels of positions.

Yet no study could hope to identify all available jobs at any point in time as jobs are

advertised in a wide range of sources.

42

In terms of data analysis, a limited number of statistical operations can be applied to

processing textual data and whether binominal classifications can be objectively

extracted from textual information is an ongoing debate in content analysis. Therefore

the author might be blamed for a degree of subjectivity in the attempt to generate

binominal scales from the abovementioned textual data.

The above limitations are not considered to bias, yet the study would benefit from a

larger population, including non-English context. Finally, while this study represents an

attempt to highlight some of the skills and competencies contemporary supply graduates

are called to possess, it is quite logical that it cannot be adequate in providing a holistic

picture. Future research may benefit from providing a longitudinal study, examine and

reveal the change over time of the employers’ expectations, and raise awareness on

emerging skills. Such a monitoring will provide useful insight and enable proactive

attitude from the abovementioned stakeholders.

43

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I

Appendices

Appendix A – The job advertisements

1.

2.

3.

4.

II

5.

6.

7.

8.

III

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

IV

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

V

20.

21.

22.

23.

24.

VI

25.

26.

27.

28.

29.

VII

30.

31.

32.

33.

34.

VIII

35.

36.

37.

38.

39.

IX

40.

41.

42.

43.

X

44.

45.

46.

XI

47.

48.

49.

XII

50.

51.

52.

53.

54.

XIII

55.

56.

57.

58.

XIV

59.

60.

Appendix B – The coding manual

The 36 skills-framework provided below is the scan-guide for each advertisement.

Skills should be identified only in that job ad section where it is most clearly stated by

the section-title that the competencies and requirements for the job are about to be

described. E.g. “candidate requirements”, “competence needed”, “qualifications”,

“your profile”, “what we look for”, “knowledge and experience required”, “what we

need”,

A skill may be identified or indicated by only one word or a whole phrase

A certain skill can be identified only once in each job advertisement

If more languages than English are stated or required, then mark both, two or more

languages and English as an identified skill. If only English is stated as a requirement,

then just mark English as a required skill.

Skills Phrases/ Words

Teamwork team player

ability to work in a team

ability to build and maintain strong relationships in a cross-

functional environment

work well as part of a team

thrive on delivering excellent performance to your team

XV

work in teams

team working spirit

ability to work well with others as a team

Problem solving

ability

pragmatic

analytical skills

problem-solving

affinity with numbers

strong analytical approach

Flexible flexible

flexible and mobile

high learning agility

flexibility

ability to adapt to change

High average

grade

with a grade average of 70%

good scholastic record

GPA 80% or better

excellent track record and good academic background

above average university degree

bachelor with great results

graduated with a minimum 2:2 degree

minimum 2:1 degree

strong academic track record

minimum achieved grade of 2:2

Two or more

languages

good command in both English & Mandarin

fluency in English (additional/local languages a plus)

English language is a must, German or French would be an

advantage

Bi-lingual in Dutch (native speaker) and English. French is

also an advantage

fluency in English (spoken and written) and good German

knowledge

command of one of the Nordic languages and English

excellent command of English, additional languages

XVI

advantageous

English and at least one Nordic language

English spoken & written for contact with suppliers + french

Understanding

logistics

terminology

major in Logistics or related is preferred

a bachelors or advanced qualification in supply chain, or a

supply related field

bachelor’s degree in Logistics, Supply Chain

business degree in Logistics, Supply Chain or similar

bachelor within economic, maritime, logistic or commercial

areas

Procurement, Supply Chain or Business related degree

experience about supply chain

master's degree in supply chain management

degree qualified in a relevant discipline, e.g. Logistics,

Supply Chain Management, Procurement, Operations and

Supply Chain Management

Responsible,

mature and

professional

Strong sense of responsibility

Mature, professional personality

attention to detail with discipline to follow through on

assigned tasks

willingness and capability to take handle difficult situations,

with a strong sense of responsibility

structured and methodical approach to work and follow

things through

independent and responsible

readiness to take on responsibilities and work independently

detail oriented

high degree of ownership

Leadership leadership

leaders in their profession

potentially want to become the future leader of our business

Enthusiasm ambitious individual with a passion and drive to excel

high degree of initiative, energy

XVII

willing to learn and continue to challenge oneself

high level of energy

have the drive to learn and succeed

eager to learn and roll up your sleeves

challenge your talent in order to become one of our future

high potentials

General

business

administration

Post graduate qualification in business

Degree should be Business, Marketing, Management,

Commerce

Master’s Degree within Economics or a relevant field of

study is preferred

Business related degree

In a business subject

Ability to plan

and organise

strong capabilities to prioritise, optimise and perform under

limited resources and tight deadlines

project management skills

Ability to think and plan in a proactive manner

Organized and reactive

proactive